Houston,
23
March
2020
|
10:40 AM
America/Chicago

HEART DAYRIT MILLER, FOREVER TOUCHED BY GRACE AT UST

Heart Dayrit Miller '98With her never-met-a-stranger smile and successful career in information technology (IT), Heart Dayrit Miller, B.A. ’98, makes life look easy. What’s unseen is the unimaginable loss she suffered in her early 20s, the role that grace plays in her world to this day, and how Miller unforgettably experienced God’s love while at UST.

A Terrible Blow

Six months before she was scheduled to graduate, Miller suffered a devastating family tragedy. It left her heartbroken and confused.

She remembered, “Both my brother and I were enrolled at UST, and our professors and advisors came to us like family. It looked exactly like grace to me—the grace that God gives us when ‘It’s okay if you don’t finish this class. Or, it’s okay that you’re feeling this way.’ We went ahead and pushed ourselves to finish classes and graduate, but that pressure never came from our UST family.”

Grace Found a Home

Having experienced grace, she said it’s natural for her to extend it. And she does.

“Ever since that time, I don’t judge or assume,” she said. “People open up and share with me.”

Within two years of that darkest period, Miller graduated, married, started a full-time job in UST’s admissions office, and gave birth to the first of two beloved daughters.

A Natural Knack for IT

Initially, with both her father and brother in IT, she wanted nothing to do with the tech field. But she started working with software as an assistant in the admissions office. That evolved to her being a systems analyst for UST where her graceful ability to listen and build rapport also strengthened relationships for the university with tech giant Oracle.

“The next thing you know, I was recruited to work for Oracle in their consulting organization,” she said. “Information technology is definitely in my family’s blood because 18 years later, I’m still in the IT space.”

Miller transitioned from the services and implementation side to product development and now works for Workday, a cloud-based solutions company based in California and started by the founders of PeopleSoft.

“I represent colleges and universities and show them how technology can solve their business challenges.

Always Guided by Grace

Alongside success has come hardship and again, grace, which saw her through a divorce and enabled her to raise two strong daughters.

“My daughters are like me — resourceful and resilient. I pray they will always lean into their faith and belief in God to ground and guide them.”

She also hopes that all people will make an effort to give one another grace and be understanding and tolerant of different perspectives.

Miller said, “The world needs that now more than ever.”